Courts in Seven Russian Regions Deny Alternative Civilian Service Citing Good Grades in Military Safety Course

The rulings were issued against conscripts in Khabarovsk, Perm, Arkhangelsk, Belgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, and the Krasnodar and Altai territories, according to lawyer Klyga, who reviewed recent court decisions from those regions.

The reasoning in the decisions rests on several points. Courts cite excellent grades in the school course known as OBZh or OBZR, including marks on the topic "Conscription for military service," as evidence that a conscript holds no convictions, even though a grade reflects knowledge of the material rather than a worldview.

Conscripts are also faulted for assembling and disassembling a mock AK-74 rifle, firing in a laser shooting range, and attending training camps after the 10th grade. Klyga notes that schools do not explain that this part of basic military training can be refused on health grounds or on grounds of conscience.

According to the lawyer, school and college character references now include a standard line: "did not display sustained pacifist convictions." Klyga writes that this wording rules out any possibility of replacing military service with alternative civilian service.

In one case, a social pedagogue told the court that the OBZh teacher collects information on all future conscripts and "would have raised the issue" if a student had displayed religious convictions. No one is obliged to disclose their attitude toward religion, under paragraph 5 of Article 3 of the federal law "On Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Associations."

Klyga recommends that those who want to refuse basic military training within the OBZh or OBZR course submit an application in advance: before the training camps in the 8th and 10th grades, and preferably at the start of the school year. Parents write the application addressed to the school principal, in writing, with a receipt of delivery or by registered mail.

The application should cite Article 28 of the Constitution and clarifications from the Education Ministry. It should request not exemption from the subject but exemption from shooting, handling weapons and mock-ups, such as assembling and disassembling a Kalashnikov or loading a magazine, with replacement by a theoretical assignment.

The Education Ministry's clarification refers specifically to religious motives. There is no direct provision for non-religious pacifism, so applicants can cite freedom of conviction in general on the basis of the Constitution.